London, United Kingdom – “It’s magical,” says biology teacher Muneera Alfadhel from under her umbrella. In fact, it is a characteristically rainy, grey day in London, but the weather is doing nothing to dampen her mood. She is among the first to walk down the middle of the iconic Oxford Street following its pedestrianisation.
For generations, shoppers have bustled along Oxford Street next to bikes, cars, black cabs and red double-decker buses. But on Monday, from Great Portland Street to Orchard Street, the road is now a pedestrian-only zone. On Monday morning, by force of habit, most pedestrians are still sticking to the pavement.
Mark Arbouine, a forensic scientist out for a stroll, is one of the few breaking ranks: “I saw there was no traffic today, so I thought, why not walk in the middle of the street and take advantage of it? I just think it’s great for the environment, great for shopping. It’s just so much easier to move around the street.” This tiny strip of real estate is big business: about 1 percent of the UK’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is generated along this 1km (0.6 miles) stretch of street.
But despite its outsized importance, Oxford Street has in recent decades been hit by lower consumer spending, as well as falling rents and footfall, which is now just 57 percent of what it was in 2006, according to New West End Company, a retail trade body. The Greater London Authority, also known as City Hall, believes pedestrianisation could, therefore, offer a lifeline. City Hall analysis suggests the partial pedestrianisation of Oxford Street could generate more than $109m per year and support an additional 700 jobs.
Following a weekend trial in October 2025, two-thirds of businesses in the area said they had higher or similar sales figures during the pedestrianisation. This is the first step in a multi-phase regeneration project to add two public squares, 50 trees and hundreds of public seating. Barbara Stoll, a leading campaigner on the benefits of greener, more walkable cities, was smiling as she observed the street.
The air already feels cleaner, she noted. Walking down the street, it was already so uplifting that the noise is considerably lower,” she said. I saw people coming up from the tube and looking around.
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